There were several combine/showcases around the middle Tennessee area within easy driving distance for players in our coverage area. I want to mention, first of all, that On Top Athletics had a combine held in Murfreesboro on the campus of Oakland High School. Sources have shared with KPGFootball that two former or present KPGFootball All-Staters, from the “502,” really showed well.
Jaylin “The Boss” Bross (2021) and Jayshawn “The Shizz” Monroe both demonstrated how Male High School won the State Championship (KHSAA, Class 6A) in 2018 and is an early favorite to repeat in 2019. Bross is a RB/LB and Monroe is a defensive lineman.
Up the road, on the campus of Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee the Blue-Grey HS All-American Classic, in its 23rd year, was auditioning Tennessee area players for one of its games in late December, 2019, early January, 2020.
Running the show for John Bell’s outfit in Tennessee was the former NFL receiver affectionately known as “Mighty Mouse,” Mark McMillan. McMillan had flown in from Las Vegas to lead the combine which was well orchestrated by both area high school football coaches especially from off of the JP2 coaching staff.
As a brief aside, McMillan shared a humorous story about his first joining the Eagles. According to Mark, he walked into the locker room and was immediately confronted by the very imposing physique of the “Minister of Defense,” the late Reggie White.
Just to sort of “set the table” regarding context, White played at 6-5 and his optimal playing weight was in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. Reggie White, by all accounts (this author had the privilege of meeting him several times over the years), was both a menacing and imposing DE, considered by all to be amongst the best to have ever played football on the field and a devoutly religious and gentle soul everywhere else.
MacMillan was, at the time, a newly drafted (1992) diminutive corner whom had been taken with the 272nd overall selection in the 10th round. In stark contrast to Reggie White, Mark McMillan stood 5-7 and played most of his career between 150 and 160-pounds.
So, McMillan reports to the Eagles as the ball club’s 5th corner on the depth chart (according to him) and almost immediately crosses paths with White. White looks over the newly minted rookie and bellows out…Alright, who let this kid in the locker room.
McMillan would work his way up to the top of the depth chart by the 8th game of his rookie year and in 1997, while playing for the Chiefs, McMillan would lead the NFL in interception return yards and tie for 2nd most in interceptions with 8. KPGFootball can’t imagine how the Blue-Grey could have chosen anyone better to lead its Tennessee Regional.
All of that aside, in talking with both John “Gus” Bell, Blue-Grey Executive Director and with Mark McMillan, the general consensus was that Tennessee was among the very best of the 17 regionals the organization had hosted nationwide so far this year and particularly good along the offensive and defensive lines. McMillan’s statement to one of the coaches, overheard by us, was that the skills at Regionals in both Texas and Florida were faster and more athletic but he hadn’t seen athletic big men, anywhere he had been, any better than what he saw in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
On the offensive side of the football, KPGFootball was particularly impressed with the Seibert twins (Logan and Ryan) who never stopped competing with the other. Logan Seibert is a C/LS at Sycamore High School and his brother plays Guard on offense while playing OLB on defense. Both of the twins are in the 5-11, 220-225 pound range.
Let me just say this, for KPGFootball’s money we thought Logan Seibert’s work at Center was just impressive. It is so hard to find quality centers and with the advent of the pistol formation out of which Spread offenses are generally triggered, finding a quality offensive center has never been more at a premium. KPGFootball would have loved to have seen some of the combine’s better defensive linemen working from the NG slot against Logan but most of them were not fool-hardy enough to drop down there in front of him. There were centers getting abused in the one on ones, but those centers weren’t Logan Seibert. KPGFootball told Logan’s dad we could see Logan playing center in college at a high level and we couldn’t have been any more serious.
Ryan Seibert worked yesterday at offensive guard. If he worked any with the linebackers we missed it. He was one of the combine’s top players at guard and looked really impressive during the one on ones. Both of the Seiberts move their feet very well and (for the most part) play over their backsides and let the defender come to them as opposed to lunging at a lengthier player and allowing his length to beat them.
Both of the Seiberts tested well. Working off of memory here, both Seiberts repped 185-pounds on the bench press, 22-24 times, both of them ran the forty between 4.7-4.9-seconds, both of them shuttled in the mid 4s, and both of them broad-jumped in the 90-inch range.
William Long had a very good combine though he didn’t bench during that portion of the testing. As has been before reported, William is still suffering from the lingering effects of a strained pectoral muscle suffered shortly before he won his second, consecutive Kentucky Powerlifting State Championship at 250-pounds. If there is one thing about William of which we don’t need any evidence, it is that he is both strong and powerful. Yesterday was a day to showcase his speed, quickness, explosiveness, and agility.
William ran a 5.18 second, 40-yard dash, shuttled at 4.84-seconds which is a slow time for him as he was 4.60 in the shuttle just last week at the Appalachia Prep Combine. William broad-jumped 94-inches and was a force during one on ones, especially when working from the NG slot where William is just a natural in both build and ability.
The KPGFootball impression about this year’s showcase, being we covered the event last year too, was that the overall talent at this year’s combine was significantly improved, particularly along the lines of scrimmage over last year’s attendees. There were at least 5, 290-plus-pound linemen, at this year’s event, running the 40-yard dash under 5.4, and some even as low as 5.1, shuttling in the high 4s to low 5s, and broad jumping over 84-inches. Doing any of the above, weighing what some of these kids weighed, was amazing.
The combine also had at least 4 linemen who exceeding 30-repetitions on the bench press test of 185-pounds with a high of 39-reps. The national combine record for reps at 185-pounds is believed to be 43 reps (Khalil MacKenzie, 2014). That particular record appeared under serious assault by the lifter who got 39-reps and nearly got 40.
There will be several of the Tennessee Regional kids who advance on to a Super Regional and several more will end up playing in one of the Classic. KPGFootball was thrilled to be back for year 2 covering the event and, like we said in the title, it was quite the show.
Reporting for KPGFootball, this is F.W. Long, reminding all of you ballers out there to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE.
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